What Can You Buy When You Save Money By Eloping?

Year after year, when we ask eloping couples why they are choosing to elope, the most common answer is always that they want to save money. With a traditional wedding carrying an average price tag of around $25,000, it is possible to save as much as 90% by choosing an all-inclusive elopement package instead that includes a mini-moon. This got us to thinking about what couples might be spending their money on after choosing to elope, so we were excited to see an article by Talia Koren detailing the 10 Things You Could Buy With The Money You’d Save By Eloping. Talia is already planning to elope when the time comes for her to get married, so she has already started to consider what she might be able to do now she will save money by eloping instead of having a traditional wedding. You can read her article in its entirety on Elite Daily, but we have summarized her list here and offered our own thoughts on the choice.

What To Buy When You Save Money By Eloping

1. Buying a New Home
   Talia suggests that the money that eloping couples would have spent on a wedding could be better directed towards buying a home. This is definitely something that we would agree with and so do many of our readers. In our latest round up of why couples choose elopement, 24.44% of respondents said that they were going to redirect the money towards buying a house.
2. Investing For The Future Your wedding is the first day of the rest of your lives together, so we are definitely on board with Talia’s suggestion that the money that you would be spending on a big wedding could be better put to use investing for your future.
3. Starting a College Fund
   If you are thinking of starting a family, or if you already have children then starting a college fund instead of spending your money on a big wedding is a great idea.
4. Going On The Vacation Of a Lifetime
   Talia suggests that it could be a great idea to have the trip of a lifetime instead of spending money on a wedding. That does sound like a great idea, but here at WhereToElope.com, we like to think of eloping as a way to have a mini honeymoon (minimoon) and a wedding all at once, so we suggest taking it a step further and having that dream vacation, but get married while you are there!  What we call an “elopacation“!
5. Buying a New Car
   Another expensive purchase that you might think about redirecting wedding funds towards is a new car. Instead of making do with whatever second-hand car you can afford, you could use some of the money that you will save by eloping to buy a brand new car complete with warranty and breakdown cover!
6. Going Into Higher Education
   If you are not intending on starting a family, or if it seems like that is something that it pretty far away from where you are now, then instead of starting a college fund for future kids you might want to think about putting yourself through college instead. If you have been thinking about retraining for a new career then this could be the perfect opportunity.
7. Remodeling or Redecorating an Existing Home
   If you already own a home of your own, then you could use the money that you have saved by choosing elopement to renovate or redecorate instead of buying a new home.
8. Donate to Charity
   Instead of spending $25,000 on yourself, you might want to give something back to the community and donate some of that money to charity in order to help those less fortunate than yourself.
9. Pay Off Debts
   Another great point that Talia makes is that if a couple is already carrying some debt, then adding a huge wedding bill to the pile is going to cause some stress. We recently blogged about the link between divorce rates and higher wedding costs and noted that the stress that debt puts on a relationship can be a big factor when it comes to divorce. With that in mind, it is sensible to pay off debts instead of having a big wedding so that you can start out with a clean slate!
10. Blow It All On ‘The Dream’
    Last if all, Talia suggests that if you are in the fortunate position of already owing your own home and having a healthy savings account, but no debt then this could be the time to invest in a dream purchase. Of course, couples in this situation could probably afford to have the big ceremony, but it is worth asking yourself, is it better to blow it on a one day ceremony, or to buy that one thing that you have always dreamed of like a boat or a pool!

We would love to hear what you are intending to spend the money you have saved by eloping on?